1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic instrument mounted on a vehicle like a car, particularly to various audio instruments having an operation display unit with an operation switch and a display panel, in which the display unit is moved by a driving mechanism.
2. Related Art
In a car instrument panel, there have been conventionally provided various car audio devices like a compact disc (hereinafter referred to as CD) player, a mini disc (hereinafter referred to as MD), and an AM/FM tuner. In FIG. 28, such an electronic instrument 101 is illustrated, which has a housing accommodating a CD player, an AM/FM tuner, etc.
The electronic instrument 101 of FIG. 28 has an instrument body 102 fitted in an instrument panel and an operation unit 103 movably attached to the instrument body 102. The instrument body 102 defined in a box shape accommodates the AM/FM tuner, the CD player, etc.
The instrument body 102 has a front face 102a (FIG. 29) formed with a recording medium inserting slot 107 to be exposed to a user when mounted in the instrument panel. Through the recording medium inserting slot 107, the CD which is a recording medium can be inserted into and removed from the instrument body 102.
The operation unit 103 has a plurality of switches 4 for tuning AM/FM broadcasting stations and for selection of pieces of music recorded on the CD. The operation unit 103 further has a display panel 105 for displaying a selected broadcasting station and a selected piece of music. The operation unit 103 is attached to the instrument body 102 movably between a first position (FIG. 28) and a second position (FIG. 29). At the first position, the operation unit 103 covers the plane 102a so that the display panel 105 faces the user, and at the second position, the operation unit 103 opens the plane 102a to expose the recording medium inserting slot 107 while the display panel 105 orients generally upward.
The operation unit 103 of the instrument body 102 of FIG. 28 has a first arm 108 (FIG. 30) and a second arm 109 (FIG. 30) via which the operation unit 103 is moved between the first position shown in FIG. 28 and the second position shown in FIG. 29.
A pair of the first arms 108 are provided to be spaced from each other in a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101. Each first arm 108 is disposed inside a side wall of the instrument body 102 and is turnably supported by the instrument body 102 around an axis along a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101. The first arm 108 supports an upper end portion of the operation unit 103 turnably around another axis along a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101.
A pair of the second arms 109 are provided to be spaced from each other in a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101. Each second arm 109 is disposed inside a side wall of the instrument body 102 and is turnably supported by the instrument body 102 around an axis along a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101. The second arm 109 supports a lower end portion of the operation unit 103 turnably around another axis along a lateral direction of the electronic instrument 101.
The turning of the first and second arms 108 and 109 around the axes moves the operation unit 103 between the first position shown by chain lines of FIG. 30 and the second position shown by solid lines of FIG. 30. At the second position, the recording medium inserting slot 107 is exposed outward.
At the second position, the user inserts or removes CD through the recording medium inserting slot 107 relative to the instrument body 102. At the first position, the user operates the switches for selection of broadcasting stations and for selection of pieces of music in the use of the AM/FM tuner and the CD player.
The aforementioned conventional electronic instrument 101 moves the operation unit 103 between the first and second positions by the pair of first arms 108 and the pair of second arms 109.
That is, the four arms are required for moving the operation unit 103 between the first and second positions. This increases parts in number and needs a complex driving mechanism to turn the four arms with synchronization thereof, resulted in an increased cost for provision of the parts and for assembling thereof.
Furthermore, the turning of the four arms to move the operation unit 103 causes a reduced moving range of the operation unit 103 due to limited lengths of the arms. Thus, a plane 102a of the instrument body 102 is limitedly exposed when the operation unit 103 opens the recording medium inserting slot 107. It has been difficult to provide another recording medium inserting slot for insertion of a MD in the plane 102a in addition to the CD inserting slot 107.
As illustrated in FIG. 31, when the display panel 105 is arranged in the plane 102a of the instrument body 102, the limited exposed area of the plane 102a can not provide a broader area to sufficiently visually recognize an operation status of the instrument.